Citizenship Ceremony

No experience with this stuff (yet) but I know I would be very excited and would dress up for deffo. And congrats to Lip Balm Addict who will be having her ceremony next month!
My shot at citizneship won't come for quite a while, but time passes pretty fast, so probably before I know it I will be doing that as well.

Thanks, Jewlz!!!  We will be rooting for you too when your time comes!

I'll send you a link to the photos, and if I can score a Union Jack Joey Tribiani style hat (for an "after" photo, not to wear during the ceremony), that photo will be just for you! 

I had my ceremony in Preston, and it was a warm and welcoming ceremony. I dressed for it; most were more casual but certainly not in dirty or tacky clothes. The people seated near me seemed very serious about it, as was I, and also just as nervous about whether we'd say our oath as a group or individually (by group, as it turned out). We were served snacks before the ceremony. During the ceremony part, Lady Shuttleworth gave a lovely speech. We were called to the front of the room one at a time to receive our certificates from her. Both she and the people in charge of the ceremony were more than happy to let us take photos, both during and after the ceremony. In fact, they cheerfully let us pose with our families and took the pictures for us on our cameras. All in all, the ceremony couldn't have been nicer or more friendly.

It does. Definitely for trial witnesses, probably for citizenship ceremonies as well.

These are forms in use in California and I bet others states are not substantially different.

ETA: According to my google search, you're allowed to omit "so help me God" in when taking the oath of citizenship and when asked to sign the oath, you can cross out those words.

Thanks, Mort - I am pleased to read that.  Appreciate the info.

http://www.unionjackwear.co.uk/prodlist.asp?cat=Skirts%2FDresses

 

http://www.unionjackwear.co.uk/prodlist.asp?cat=Skirts%2FDresses

 

Snap!  I was just looking at a Ginger Spice styled Union Jack dress on eBay!!!

Tellytabby,

After reading your posting I got to thinking that the officials at the ceremony for citizenship should decide at that time if the applicants are ready and serious about getting their citizenship.

So they don't get the citizenship if they don't like their attitude and don't think they will be a asset to the new country.

I was thinking along the lines of it being like a job interview were you are trying to get a job. If you don't hear back you didn't get the job. "Thank you for your interest"

Tellytabby,

After reading your posting I got to thinking that the officials at the ceremony for citizenship should decide at that time if the applicants are ready and serious about getting their citizenship.

So they don't get the citizenship if they don't like their attitude and don't think they will be a asset to the new country.

I was thinking along the lines of it being like a job interview were you are trying to get a job. If you don't hear back you didn't get the job. "Thank you for your interest"

Yeah, I pretty much disagree with all of that. I'm not sure how you can justify having someone spend tons of money, qualify for citizenship and then be "dismissed" because they weren't enthusiastic enough at the ceremony.

There are enough people who have the fate of immigrants in their hands without adding assistant-sub-lower-deputy mayor to the list.

Plus maybe they don't have nice clothes, or are coming from a dirty job or something.

Fair point, bookgrl.

I think Jim's analogy of the job interview doesn't add up - if there were to be an "interview" to assess attitude, it should take place prior to the Citizenship Invitation.  Once invited, the decision has been made.

I think it's more like one's attitude at a registry office wedding - to my knowledge, as long as people comply with the requirements, they can't be turned away from getting married because the officiant doesn't like something about them, so again, I disagree with Jim's suggestion.

If there were a dress code for the citizenship ceremony that people were violating, that would be one thing, but there is no dress code.  Even in posh restaurants where men don't bring a suitable jacket, some of the restaurants offer a loaner jacket, and something like that would only be fair if a dress code were to be imposed for the citizenship ceremony.

I am old enough to remember when people dressed up for church (based on my own churchgoing experiences), and as well to see over the years that people started wearing whatever they wanted - some continued to dress up, and some didn't.  It's just a sign of the times, IMO.

Lets see here. Maybe I can screw my argument up some more
If  a new boy friend showed up and his appearance was scruffy and he came from a dirty job would it be exceptable? I think you would take it as a put down.

I had a private ceremony this was because the days they hold the ceremony in town it wasn't guaranteed my husband could get leave and I wanted him to be there.

It was very memorable though in that I had a lot of people from work come to see and my MIL came down. I think they were more excited then me!  Everyone sort of dressed up smart casual.  I had to sign the register and then I took my oath and then get this I had to sing the national anthem (I was warned before hand that I would have to do that).  Then I got an official certificate and a decorative one as well as a crystal paperweight.  Lastly they provided us with coffee, tea and bisquits.

After the ceremonial stuff people came to my house and we had champagne and cake.  Afterwards about 30 people in addition to the 10 people who came to my ceremony all met at the pub.  It was great they had gotten everyone to sign a card and I got loads of union jack things (passport cover, a flag, a towel, an umbrella, a teddy bear and a my husband's ship at the time presented me with a Royal Navy flag) and to top it all off they gave me this T-shirt which on the front said Made in the USA with a Stars and Stripes and in the back it said Perfected in Britain with a Union Jack. It was great really people in the pubs we went to were buying me pints and shots all night once they found out what we were celebrating. It was truly a memorable day.

Lets see here. Maybe I can screw my argument up some more
If  a new boy friend showed up and his appearance was scruffy and he came from a dirty job would it be exceptable? I think you would take it as a put down.

Yes but the difference is more like that of boyfriend vs. husband.  If you are a fan of shows like "Friends" and "Seinfeld" where people routinely dump boyfriends/girlfriends for shallow reasons, then perhaps that seems normal.  But I would hope if someone were married (which an invitation to citizenship is analogous to - getting "married" to the soon to be country of citizenship, IMO) that they would get past it, even if they did take it (as you said) like a put down.  If one were in a long term relationship, they would have accepted their partner's "dirty job" already.

To take it a step further, I put up with a lot of cr*p when on holiday in Egypt that I overlooked because I was only on holiday there.  But if certain aspects of the Egyptian culture were pervasive in the UK, it would make me think harder about becoming a citizen.  See the difference?

/hijack

Thanks to those of you who have been posting the stories of your ceremonies, they have been great to read!! 

Congratulations, Teletabby!

I had my ceremony in Bathgate (due to where i lived at the time) -- I wore office attire, as i'd just nipped out from work, and then flew back to work the minute it was over, despite the tea & biscuits that were on offer.

Most of the other people there were dressed similarly (or nicer!), and some had brought family & friends and looked like they were making an 'occasion' of it!